Fastest,

Consider the following:

1. Different lathe screens
2. Different ways of holding  the tools ( ie; turret, quick change, multiple tool holding bar)
3. Different machine setups ( ie; no home switches, home switches, using soft limits, etc)
4. Different techniques to touch off the tool
5. Lots of buttons on the screen ( who reads a manual to learn what they are for or what happens when you tick one )
6. Who reads the manual to understand the logic of the different coordinate systems, offsets, configuration, etc.

The list can go on and on, but, as far as the tool table is concerned, they all have a BASIC  thing in common,
namely........ each tool has an X and Z offset from a reference.

So, if you forget about all the considerations listed above, focus on just the tool / populating the table and grasp the basic concept, the tool table itself becomes rather simple. 

LATHE TOOL TABLE BASIC CONCEPT
The tool table is just a listing of the distances the tools are from some location. The same location is used for all the tools.
One tool is used to define the location to the software and then all the other tools are moved to that same location to
find the difference in distance they are from that location. Each tool distance is stored in the tool table for use by the software.

 RICH

There are a number of ways to populate the tool table.
1. Use a tool settting fixture ( Don't think most folks have one ) which will provide the required info to populate the tool table
    manualy.
2. Use Mach to find the distance differences each tool is away from a reference point, record the info and enter the info manualy 
    into the tool table.
2a. Same as 2, but, tick a few buttons to transfer info to the tool table.

Before a user even tries to get the tool table populated they need to do a few things.
1. Label each tool and make sure the tool is set at the proper heigth.
2. Set up a few software configurations
3. You will need a reference to touch off the tools or you can machine something to be used as a reference.

RICH